


Maison Valentino

by bigficenergy



Series: Nonbinary David Rose [1]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Fashion & Couture, Gen, Gender Identity, Nonbinary Character, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24955294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigficenergy/pseuds/bigficenergy
Summary: A surprise visit from Alexis gets David thinking more deeply about the fluidity of his wardrobe and identity.
Relationships: Alexis Rose & David Rose
Series: Nonbinary David Rose [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806175
Comments: 21
Kudos: 103





	Maison Valentino

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! If you read my recent fic [Little Grey Dress](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24237358), some of this note may be redundant, but since this is now the start of a series, I wanted to make sure some things were addressed up top. I am a nonbinary person who had always had the background headcanon that David is nonbinary. After writing Little Grey Dress, which is a smutty, post-canon thing, I started thinking about some of the ways David might communicate this part of himself to the people in his life over time, and how he might present and express himself through fashion. I absolutely understand that clothes don't determine gender, but I also know that clothes can be really helpful for expressing and exploring gender. I personally have found a lot of comfort in adopting some of David's canon sense of style! But I want to make it clear that I'm not saying David _must_ be nonbinary to dress the way he does in either canon or in these fics I'm writing. I am one nb person writing one take on a nb character. That said, I do hope there is some resonance for some folks out there. :)

David doesn’t like to be alone. Without the noise of his gallery clients and patrons, or the people he drinks and dances with often enough to call friends, the quiet gives him too much space to second-guess his professional and personal relationships.

The one exception to this is the Monday after he’s hosted a party at his loft. It doesn’t matter if the party was on Friday or Saturday night. Sometimes there are weekend-long stragglers, sometimes there are next-day bottomless mimosas, and sometimes it’s the hangover that feels like it’s bottomless. Whatever the case, David has learned to take those following Mondays to recover.

It’s one of those Mondays, and he’s looking forward to spending the day on his sofa, reading a book and snacking on his stash of guilty-pleasure junk food. He intends to complete this leisurely checklist in a special, comfortable outfit as well. Among the suits and the button-ups and the many, many, pullovers in his expansive walk-in closet, he’s begun to accumulate a few more traditionally feminine pieces. It started when an ex-girlfriend left a dress at his place before she moved out of the country. He’d almost thrown it out; it had been a bad breakup, after all. But it was cashmere, charcoal gray with a turtleneck, and as it turned out, it looked great on him. So he kept it, and he’d wear it or another similar garment on days he had all to himself.

On this particular Monday, he puts on the ex-girlfriend dress with a pair of spandex shorts underneath, and slips on his UGG boots to pad around the loft, enjoying the freedom from his usual jeans or joggers without feeling completely underdressed. After doing some perfunctory tidying up, ahead of the housekeeper’s next visit, he goes to the kitchen to fix himself a Caesar.

He’s garnishing the drink with a pickle spear when he hears the lock on the front door click. A wave of fear washes through him, and he looks around frantically for something to use as a weapon, settling on a big pan from a rack of them that he rarely uses. He creeps along the wall toward the front door, pan raised as it opens and…

“Oh my god, David, it’s me!” Alexis yelps.

“Alexis?!” David hisses. “What the fuck! Why are you breaking into my apartment?!”

“I’m not _breaking in_ , I have a key!” she says, jingling the key to show him.

“Yeah for emergencies, not-”

“Wait… David, what are you wearing?”

This time, it’s dread that washes over him. In his terror over the presumed break-in, he’d forgotten he was in the dress. He knows there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. Assigning gender to clothing is a totally unnecessary construct that far too much of the world just accepts, and he’s not ashamed of his appreciation for a wide range of aesthetics. However, there’s no accounting for how _other_ people will react when you don’t conform. He and Alexis aren’t terribly close these days, but he still doesn’t think he could handle a negative reaction from her.

“It’s… it’s um…” David stutters, holding the pan in front of himself, as if it will obscure anything at this point.

“Ughhh, okay, _you_ are gonna have to be the one to change,” she says, dropping her bag and undoing belt on her coat. “This is all I have and I am _not_ going out with you in matching outfits like we’re twin babies. That is _so_ gauche.”

She pulls off the coat, and it takes a second for David’s brain to catch up, but then he really takes in Alexis’s outfit and realizes _she’s wearing the same dress as him_. She has accessorized with a belt, a statement necklace, and thigh-high boots, but it’s the same gray, cashmere dress.

“Wait, going out… Alexis, what are you even doing here?”

“You invited me to your party this weekend.”

“It’s _Monday_. You missed the party!”

“I’m _sorry_ , I lost track of time. You know how Zac can be.”

“Um, contrary to popular belief, I don’t, and I don’t want to know.”

“Okay David, I’m not here for long and I really need to get some cute looks for the Maldives. Can you please change so we can go shopping?”

“Oh my _god_ ,” David grumbles, heading to his bedroom while Alexis helps herself to his drink.

* * *

After a long afternoon of shopping, followed by a dinner that doesn’t cost David much because Alexis is on a cleanse, they head back to the loft. Alexis makes herself comfortable on the sofa, and David takes a moment to mourn his quiet day alone. It’s just a moment, though. Alexis is always running around, getting into trouble. When she’s here, he doesn’t have to worry about her quite so much.

He opens a bottle of wine and pops some popcorn, mostly because he knows Alexis will eat it. Sure enough, she reaches for a handful of it the second he sets it on the coffee table, without looking up from the TV as she flips through the channels. She settles on something mindless, and David appreciates the opportunity to zone out.

“You can change into something more… comfortable. If you want,” Alexis says after a few minutes.

David looks down at his sweater and drop-crotch joggers.

“If I was dressed anymore casually, I’d be in pajamas.”

“No, but like. Something _more comfortable_. Like what you were wearing earlier.”

“Um…”

“It doesn’t bother me or anything. You should wear what you want. I just didn’t want to go out matching, you know? You could have put on, like, a different dress.”

“I don’t… I don’t need to…”

“Okay, whatever you want, it’s fine.”

Alexis eats some more popcorn, and David sips some more of his wine. After a long moment, David sets his glass down and gets up, heading into his bedroom, and into his closet. When he comes back, he’s changed out of his joggers and into a black, pleated maxi skirt, unmistakably Valentino thanks to the large, white V logo on it. He drops back down on the sofa, kicking his slippered feet up on the coffee table and fanning the skirt out. He can see Alexis big, bright grin from the corner of his eye, and it makes him smile a little too.

“Love this for you,” she says. “You should definitely wear this with a pair of white lace-up boots.”

“I know to pair it with boots,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Or I would if I ever wore it out.”

“You don’t wear it out? David, I know a fifteen-hundred dollar skirt when I see one. Why would you not wear it out?”

“Because not everyone is as open-minded as you and mom.”

“Well, who cares what they think? They’re stupid.”

“You understand that that’s a lot easier for you to say in this case, right?”

Alexis pauses. “David is this just, like, a fashion thing? Or is there more to it?”

David swirls the wine in his glass. He wasn’t expecting to have this conversation tonight. He hadn’t been expecting his sister to show up at all. He’s not prepared for this

“You can tell me,” Alexis insists. “You’ve already come out to me once, and so have lots of other people. I can handle it.”

“Remind me, how many of those were your boyfriends?”

“David!”

“Sorry.” He sighs. “You know, mom asked me once too. That year that I begged to borrow one of her wigs because I _needed_ to go as Alanis for Halloween…”

“Oh yeah,” Alexis laughs. “That was weird.” Off of David’s look, she amends, “Weird in a super adorable way.”

“Anyway, I don’t think I really understood what she was asking. We both used to dress up in her clothes and and accessories all the time…”

“Literally how could we not?”

“Exactly. So I didn’t think of it as, like, a thing. But… ugh, I don’t know. I get so tired when people say presumptuous things based on how I look or act or what I like.”

“Presumptuous in which way?” Alexis asks, obviously prying for something more concrete, but at least trying to be gentle about it.

David sighs. “In any way! My girlfriends telling their girlfriends to trust my taste because I’m “basically one of them,” or fashion reporters giving my event looks a thumbs-down when I go traditional, just because I wore a kilt to a gala, like, once. Why does everything I do have to be a contradiction to something else about me? Why can’t it all just be me and be fine?”

Alexis squints and purses her lips.

“Okay, but which looks did they thumbs-down? Because the all-white with the splattery pattern was a little out there…”

“The splatter was paint, because I was participating in a performance art piece, and is that really all you took from what I said just now?!”

“No, David! I just don’t know what else to tell you. You should wear whatever you want, no matter what other people think. I do.”

“Yes, I’m very aware of that.”

“Thank you!” she says, though he hadn’t necessarily meant it as a compliment. She sits back and kicks her feet up on the table like David’s, making him gasp.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh my god, what?” she says, pulling the bowl of popcorn into her lap and popping another piece into her mouth. “You’re doing it too!”

“Not with my bare feet! I’m getting you a pair of house slippers.”

He gets up, smooths his skirt out dramatically, and goes past Alexis instead of the other way around the sofa, forcing her to take her feet down from the table. She puts them right back up once he’s passed.

“David, while you’re up, do you have any nutritional yeast?” she calls after him. “David!”

* * *

Alexis spends the night in the guest room, but she leaves in the morning while David is still sleeping. He wakes up to a text:

**Alexis**

****_Had to run. Thx for breakfast, you’re out of yogurt. xx_

David puts his phone back on his nightstand and sighs. Sure, Alexis was a lot, but he still wishes she’d slow down and stay in one place for a while. It had been nice to speak with her in person, rather than on a hasty phone call from an international area code. And it had been nice to talk to her about… things he couldn’t get into with other people. He still doesn’t really know what to call this amalgamation of thoughts and feelings on clothes and gender and presentation and perception, but acknowledging it had felt like taking a small, but significantly weighted item out of the baggage he carries around daily. He’d probably have to add it back to the pile, because despite Alexis’s insistence that he shouldn’t, he does care what people think. It’s not something he can just switch off.

He has to go into the gallery today, but when he’s getting dressed, he considers the Valentino skirt for a moment longer than he normally would. In the end, he picks a sweater with an asymmetrical hem to wear over tight black pants, and a pair of Chelsea boots with a nice little heel. It feels like a compromise until he looks in the mirror and finds that he has assembled the exact look that feels right today.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, a package arrives for David, and he’s surprised to find that it’s from Alexis.

He opens the box, removes the tissue paper, and pulls out what can only be described as a little black dress. It’s a simple tunic silhouette, the long sleeves ending in a slight flair, accented with a scarf tie that hangs from the neck, ending in a white V for Valentino. It’s short, and David finds a pair of black tights in the box to go with it. There’s also a note from Alexis, which reads:

_I almost got this for myself, but it’s more your style. xx -A_

He immediately takes the dress and tights to his bedroom, stripping out of his clothes hastily, then carefully redressing in the new outfit. Before he even looks in the mirror, the dress feels… nice. Alexis either took a lucky guess on the sizing, or she has a secret gift for eyeballing measurements, because the fit feels right. He stands straight, smooths out the dress, and steps in front of his full-length mirror.

The fit looks just as good as it feels. The dress does nothing to minimize the broadness of his shoulders, a feature that has deterred him from purchasing similar garments in the past, but the easy drape of the dress hangs nicely from his frame, not too fitted, but not too boxy or shapeless either.

He turns slightly, watching the sway of the end of the dress, and puts his hands on his hips. When he looks back up at his face in the mirror, he’s smiling. He feels both indefinable, and very much like himself. He adjusts the scarf tie then straightens up again, shoulders back, trying to imagine where he might wear this out. He knows a few designers who prioritize gender fluidity in their lines. Maybe one of them will have a runway show soon.

He sighs, relaxing his posture. He knows that in the time it might take for the right opportunity to present itself, he could lose his nerve. He thinks about what Alexis had said. _“Who cares what they think?”_ He doesn’t _want_ to care. Balancing his personal aesthetic with how he feels he needs to present himself in a given situation, professional or social, takes a lot of work. It’s not even just skirts and dresses that don’t see the outside of his apartment. He’s got plenty of sweaters that he loves that are just too comfortable or too casual or too loud in the wrong kinds of ways for everyday wear. It’s not like it’s never occurred to him that it would be easier to not curate himself so strictly. He’s just not in a place to change those habits right now.

 _Maybe one day_ , he thinks, with no concept of what it would actually take for that day to come.

He shakes his head to clear it, then goes to get his phone. There is at least one person he can show this look to. Posing in front of the mirror again, one hand on his hip, chin raised, he snaps a few photos until he has one he’s happy with, then texts it to Alexis.

  
  


**David**

_You’re right. It does look better on me._

  
  


It’s anyone’s guess what Alexis is up to at any given moment, so it doesn’t come as a surprise when he doesn’t get a text back until later that night. He’s reading on his couch, dressed in leggings and a drapey hoodie, not dissimilar in length to his new dress, when his phone buzzes.

  
  


**Alexis**

_Rude David!_

_I said it was more your style_

_It looked just as good on me_

_Your welcome by the way!_

  
  


David smiles, not missing that she’d said it looked “just as good” on her, and not “better.”

  
  


**David**

_*you’re_

**Alexis**

_OMG 😠😠😠_

**David**

_Thank you Alexis ❤️_

**Alexis**

_YOU’RE welcome_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! ❤️ Extra thank yous since this explores something near and dear to my heart.
> 
> Fashion refs! If any of these links break, you can often find the pieces elsewhere by Googling the name. I'm also saving screenshots just in case.
> 
>   * David's ex-girlfriend's dress that Alexis also has: [Loro Piana Dunster turtleneck cashmere dress](https://www.mytheresa.com/en-us/loro-piana-dunster-turtleneck-cashmere-dress-1341068.html?catref=category)
>   * The skirt David puts on while Alexis is at his place: [VLOGO pleated jersey skirt](https://www.valentino.com/en-US/skirts_cod16494023980281838.html?tskay=&TP=160162&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1277842&utm_campaign=8.+Valentino_Shopping_US&utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=All+Feed&utm_term=PRODUCT_GROUP&utm_country=US&utm_type=SEARCH&ds_rl=1277842&gclid=CjwKCAjwztL2BRATEiwAvnALchEzdDzBjKJ-SNLtyL2F-zBx27fQvaazLIhMWOOMdThc3w6i5nenFhoCSNQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
>   * The dress Alexis sends David: [Valentino VLOGO minidress](https://www.mytheresa.com/en-us/valentino-vlogo-minidress-1469557.html?catref=category)
> 

> 
> A note on the title: Right after telling people I was almost ready to post this, I realized with horror that I hadn't thought of a title. I was going to call it "Valentino," since two of the garments featured in this are Valentino, but I was trying to find a way to spice it up a bit. I saw "Maison Valentino," "maison" meaning house, and I liked the double meaning of Valentino that David wears around the house. Pretty great right? Just me? Okay. 😅


End file.
